Moving target



Aug. 16, 1949. HANSON- 2,479,354

MOVING TARGET Filed D60. 4, 1945 I5 Sheets-Shee t l I11 i/eutor J. HANSON MOVING TARGET Aug. 16, 1949.

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed D90. 4, 1945 Jim/es Ha/v'so/v Wavy 3M 9 Aug. l6, 1949. J. HANSON 2,479,354

MOVING TARGET Filed Dec. 4, 1945 s sheets-sheet s Inventor JbMes Ha/vso/V Patented Aug. 16, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MOVING TARGET James Hanson, Hudson, Mass.

Application December 4, 1945, Serial No. 532,745

This invention relates to improvements in moving targets for target practice in shooting galleries mounted on an endless conveyor belt or chain which travels over a more or less horizontal stretch. It has for its principal object to provide a target of the type above mentioned which imitates the movement of a fox, and which carries a bulls eye operating directly by simple mechanical means, an acoustical and optical signalmeans when hit by a bullet. This construction is simple, sturdy and compact, so that it cannot get out of order even if subjected to very rough handling; the whole target operation requires only the services of one man who may attend the practicing customers and has only to start or stop the motor. No further service or inspection is required as the-hitting of the target is announced automatically.

. A further object of the invention consists in meansfor keeping the bulls eye clearly marked and clearly distinguishable by means of paint in spite of hits sustained which have a tendency to crack and to remove any coating of paint which may have been applied.

Further objects will be apparent from the following specification. v

The invention is described with reference to one modification illustrated. in the drawing. It is, however, to be understood that thefact that merely one modification is described is not to be regarded as limitative. The invention is described in such terms that other embodiments than such shown are foreshadowed and suggested to the expert skilled in the art and these embodiments, therefore, do not form a departure from but constitute part of the invention. a

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the moving target and the various means employed.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the animal figure forming the target (the silhouette of a fox being selected) carrying the optical and acoustical signalling means and the mechanism for operating the same.

Figure 3 is a perspective view similar to that of Figure 2 showing the parts of the mechanism in their position after a hit of the bulls eye.

Figures 4, and .6 are elevational side views of details of the signal releasing mechanism.

Figure '7 is an elevational view of the painting mechanism.

As shown in Figure 1 the target consists of the figure of an animal (a fox being shown) cut out of a sheet ironplate of appropriate thickness. This figure consists mainly of two parts. The

4 Claims. (01. 2vs 105.2)

body I carries the bulls eye, generally indicated by 3, and the acoustical signalling device and the entire mechanism for operating the signals when the bulls eye is hit by a bullet. The tail 2 is pivoted to the body I by means of a pivot bolt 4 and forms the optical signal indicating a hit; for said tail is carried in a horizontal or elevated position when the target starts, but is dropped whenever the bulls eye is hit.

The'bulls eye, generally indicated by the ref: erence numeral 3, consists of a target disc 5 mounted on a sleeve 6 which is internally threaded. The sleeve may have the shape of a square or hexagonal nut as shown in Figures 4 and 5 in order to be able to screw it on firmly to a stem 1, provided with screw threads at its end. This stem is carried by a guide sleeve 8, which carries at its end a circular screw threaded head 9, screwed into a suitable opening ID of the body of the target figure and firmly secured thereto, if necessary, by nuts on screw threaded discs H. The guide sleeve 8 projects rearwardly and is partially cut so that it extends only around A of the circumference. Through it the stem 1 of the bulls eye passes. The guide sleeve is of sufficient length to hold the stem firmly without permitting jamming or edging even if the target disc should be hit eccentrically.

Between the sleeve 6 and the body I of the target or between said sleeve and one of the nuts a strong compression spring I2 is arranged.

On the stem I lugs M are secured which are so arranged that they project upwardly through the cut portion of the guide sleeve 8. These lugs carry a pivot l5 around which a dog I6 may rock. The dog has a cut or recessed portion l1 against which a compression spring I8 is applied which opposes a counterclockwise movement of the dog, as shown inFigure 6. l

The upper portion of the dog has a hook-like projection 20 bordered by an inclined face 2|. It cooperates with a pin 22 which is mounted on a projectionz23 of the tail 2.

The acoustic signal consists of a bell 24 which is sounded by a striking lever 25 capable of moving around a pivot 26 which may be mounted on the top of the bell. The lever 25 may simply consist of a wire, as shown, which is passed through a slot or hole 28 in the stem 1 and may be secured by a spline 30.

The movement of the target is obtained by means of a pair of conveyor belts or chains 35, 36 (Figure 1) to which the body I of the figure carrying the target is fixed by means of transversal supporting frames 31 screwed to the said.

3 body I. The supporting frames in their turn are fixed to the links of the chains 35, 36.

The chains run over pairs of sprocket wheels 40, 4|, 42, 43, each pair being carried by a shaft 45, 44, respectively. One of said shafts 45 is provided with a pulley 4a which is driven by means of a speed reduction gear 4'! from a small motor 48. The shafts of the sprocket wheels are journalled in a frame structure 3|, 32.

Between the sprocket wheel pairsdli, 4!, 42, 43 further pairs of sprocket wheels 5!], 5|, 52, 53 are arranged which are eccentrically mounted on their shafts 54, 55. The upper portions of the chains pass over these sprocket wheels and will, therefore, alternately be raised and lowered. The

target figure drawn along by the chainswill;

therefore, be raised and loweredwith the chains in rapid succession and will perform a movement which is very similar to the jumpin action of ananimal as first the fore part and then the aft portion is rapidly raised and lowered. The number' otiumps theta'rgetfigure will perform while passing over the. eccentric-sprockets will be deterniinedby the. number of pairs of eccentric sprocket wheels..- It is preferable to arrange the eccentric sprocket: wheels in such a way that adjacent pairsadopt diffierent positions of their centers with. respect to the centers of the shafts upon which they are mounted so. that the tension of the chains does not vary very much during the rotation of the eccentric wheels.

In order to be able to distinguish the bulls eye irons the background it is preferable to mark it vividly with: some distinctive color. It is under ordinary circumstances, as a rule, not of advantage to paint the-bullseye of a target as the paint under the impact of bullet hits and on account oi'therise of the temperature during such hits-disappears, drops or scales off within a very short time. This time is soshort that it would not pay interrupt the operation as many times as necessary to keep the bulls eye in good condition.

According to the invention abulls eye paintiiig arrangement is provided which may be used.

to apply paint as often as necessaray without interrupti-ng the o erationand without compelling the attendant to approach the target.

Near the sprocket wheels at the end where the animaf fi ure is tak n around said wheel a curved l arm 53 is secured to the framework 3t which maybe-turned around a pivot BI and carries a brush 62' whic-ll'dips into a container 65 with The arm ma be under'the tension of a sprin 54. The curved end of the arm is provided with an eye 68' to which a cord, rope or chain $3 is attached which to the stand of the attendant. The attendant may pull the cord when the fox figure reaches-the end of its visible run and} in this case the brush 62 is brought into the path of the disc 5 of tl'idbul-lfs eye 3. Freshpaint will be applied to the said disc so that the latter is always kept brilliantly ainted. The paint may be so selected that it dries fast, but the-Very fact that the paint wet will tend to preserve it for sometime as a hit will in this case only leave its tracebut will not crack remove the paint.

The" operation of the device will Ice-clear from the foregoing description. run ef'tne fox the parts are in the position shown inFigiire 2' with the tailheld a horizontal position by virtue: of the plaza enga ing the hook 2G of dog Hi. When: the attendant operates a. switch" controlling the driving motor the lat:-

At the start of the' ter will start to run and to move the sprocket wheels. The conveying chains will be drawn along and with it the figure of the fox will be drawn along. The fox will pass the eccentric sprocket wheels and will seem to jump over them with the bulls eye goin up and down in addition to being drawn in the forward direction.

If a bullet hits the bulls eye 3, the disc 5 will be pushed back and the spring will be compressed. Therefore, the stem 1 moves rearwardly, the hook 26 of dog 16 which originally was engaging and holding pin 22 of tail 2 is moved backwards (to the left in Figure 4) and the hook loses its grip on the pin by virtue of its lateral displacement.

Therefore, the tail 2 drops, thus giving a clear optical signal indicating that the bulls eye was hit. $irnul-taneously the wire 25 is pressed in the same direction in which the stem 1 moves and the striker is moved towards the bell. and

sounds it so as to give a clear bell signal.

The tail is now hanging down as shown in Figure 3. In order: to be still visible it may be held by a'stop pin 19 on its end.

The for; now comes to. the end of the frame structure and. starts .to pass the wheel. If the paint on the bulls eyeis not clearly seen theat tendant at any moment preceding the downward movement of the fox-over the sprocket wheelzat theeiid pulls the cord 63.. The brushfiZ is thereby raised with the position shownin Figure .7 in dotted lines and the disc will be paintedduring. its passage.

When the fox has turned around the weightof the tail 2 (which may besupplemented, if necessary, by some lead weights 69 heldzby bolt 19) will tend to align the tail again with the body. The pin 22.then meets the inclined surface 2| and presses it back against. the pressure of spring l8 which. will be overcome by the weight. of the tail. Therefore, pin 2'2 again slips under hook 20' and is held. thereby so that the mechanism on the fox figure is again in; the position shown in Figure 2 when it starts its target run.

It will thus be seen that all operations which are. necessary torun the target are such that they may be performed by one attendant standing on a r'ernote: point where he can attend to the customers, charge and hand out riflesand perform other duties.

It will be obvious that many changes may be made inthe details'of the construction without departing from the invention-.-

I claim 1. A moving target for shooting galleries com-- prising a pair of parallel endless conveyor chains, sprocket wheels for supporting and driving the conveyor chains of the. pair alt-equal speed, a target figure arranged between and carried by the chains, a disc forming a bulls eye, transversely movable'onsaid target figure, a movable signal member pivoted to said target figure,- a spring pressed stem associated withsaid disc, a movable dogfiprovided with a: hook carried by saidstem, a holding member engaging said dog when in its original position, on said movable sigiial member during travelv of the target figure on the:

upper stretch of the conveyor, said member being moved out. of engagementand releasedby a transverse movement of the: stem and. means on said dog for moving the .ho'ldingmember intozre e'ngagement with it under the influence :ofgravity" during travel; of. the target figure on the lower stretch: of the conveyor chains.

2; A moving. target :for shooting galleries as 7 specified in claim r, wherein said dog is-piv'otallpi fixed on said stem, 2. spring arranged at right angle to the axis of the stem holding the dog in its position and in inclined surface arranged above the hook surface, for moving the dog into reengagement with the holding member upon movementof the signal member in a direction opposite to its original movement under the influence of gravity during the travel of the target figure along the lower stretch of the conveyor chains.

3. A moving target for shooting galleries comprising endless conveyors, wheels for carrying the same, a frame for mounting the conveyors, a target figure mounted upon said conveyors, a disc forming a bulls eye on said target figure, a brush and a brush support, the latter pivotally mounted on said frame, means for moving said brush carrier from a remote place, and a paint container, said brush being moved from said container into the path of the passing disc upon operation of the aforesaid means.

4. A moving target for shooting galleries comprising a pair of endless parallel conveyors with an upper and a lower section, means for driving and supporting the same, a target figure, arranged between them and fixedly carried by the said pair of conveyors, a bull's eye carried by and transversely movable on said target figure, a signal member pivoted to said target figure for indicating hits on the same, movable means connected with said bulls eye including a movable catch adapted to hold the signal member and to release the same upon transverse movement on the upper conveyor stretch and to be moved into engagement with said signal member by the pressure of said member 0n the said catch under the influence of gravity during the travelling of the target figure on the lower section of the conveyor.

. JAMES HANSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

